Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
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Shrek Academy, Sea God Island.
Unlike the bustling youthfulness of the Outer Court, this island in the heart of the lake was as quiet as an ancient behemoth submerged in a deep dream.
Towering ancient trees filtered the sunlight into fine golden spots that fell upon the bluestone path; every inch of air was saturated with the solemnity and tranquility of accumulated years.
Deep within the island, in a specialized cultivation room, a scorching aura ebbed and flowed like the tide.
A young woman sat cross-legged on an ink-colored stone platform in the center of the room. Her figure was slender and graceful, and her tight-fitting crimson outfit outlined her exquisite curves.
Her waterfall-like red hair was loosely tied up with a plain hairband, and a few stray strands, damp with sweat, clung to her smooth forehead and the elegant curve of her neck.
It was an exquisite, almost sharp oval face, with eyebrows like distant mountains and thick, slightly curled eyelashes, which were currently tightly shut.
Her red lips were slightly parted, and her breathing was rapid and unstable, each breath carrying a searing heat.
Her slender brows were knitted into a knot of pain, as if she were using all her will to engage in a secret life-and-death struggle against some violent force within her body.
Evil Fire!
The curse that had been like a maggot in her bones since the day of her Spirit Awakening, burning her Bloodline and sanity day and night.
This was the scene Yan Shaozhe saw when he pushed open the heavy stone door of the cultivation room.
His footsteps paused slightly; he knew the suffering his Disciple endured better than anyone.
It was a thorn that had been hanging in his heart day and night for years, a chronic illness he had failed to uproot despite searching the world and scouring countless ancient texts.
But today... an irrepressible light of excitement suddenly flared in his eyes.
"Xiaotao!"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of excitement.
The woman on the stone platform suddenly opened her eyes, which were a beautiful shade of pink.
With a slight thought, her body temperature rose rapidly, and the sweat soaking her clothes instantly turned into rising mist, vanishing without a trace.
In the blink of an eye, her face had returned to its usual brilliance.
"Teacher."
She spoke, her voice clear and pleasant, carrying the intimacy and respect of a Junior toward an elder.
"What has made you so happy?"
She even smiled, a bright and candid smile that showed no signs of anything being wrong.
Yan Shaozhe laughed heartily, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes spreading like chrysanthemums: "Haha! It is indeed something worth being happy about..."
He looked deeply at his Disciple and said word by word: "However, it's not for me, but for you."
"For me?"
Ma Xiaotao was slightly stunned, her long fingers instinctively pointing at herself, her pink eyes filled with confusion.
"That's right."
Yan Shaozhe stopped teasing and, meeting her gaze, said: "Among this year's Outer Court freshmen, there is someone with the Ultimate Ice attribute, enough to suppress your Phoenix Evil Fire!"
Ma Xiaotao's eyes brightened upon hearing this. If not for the trouble caused by the Evil Fire, her cultivation speed would have been even faster; she might even be a Spirit Saint by now.
Yan Shaozhe's voice continued: "His name is Huo Yuhao. You can interact with him more. He's not bad-looking, and his talent is unprecedented. He is definitely a perfect match for you."
Ma Xiaotao finally snapped out of her shock, a faint blush suddenly rising to her face.
"Teacher!"
Her voice rose uncontrollably, carrying a mix of annoyance, helplessness, and a hint of fluster that she didn't want to admit: "You... please stop playing matchmaker!"
She turned her face away, her pink eyes looking down unnaturally, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
"Setting aside that I haven't even met him..."
"And he's a freshman this year, eight or nine years younger than me!"
"What does age matter?"
Yan Shaozhe waved his hand: "Besides, eight or nine years isn't much. Looking across the continent, couples with age gaps of ten or twenty years are everywhere."
"When your teacher was your age, I still felt that a Senior Sister a few years older was the most..."
"Teacher."
Ma Xiaotao interrupted him, her voice not loud but carrying a nearly stubborn persistence.
She raised her pink eyes and said solemnly: "I don't want to marry someone I don't like just to suppress the evil fire."
Yan Shaozhe's smile froze for a moment.
"Xiaotao." His voice deepened: "Your evil fire is becoming nearly impossible to suppress."
"If you are completely consumed by the evil fire and your sanity is affected, or even... what do you expect your teacher to do?"
Ma Xiaotao lowered her gaze, her long eyelashes masking all emotion.
"Teacher, I will definitely be able to suppress the evil fire."
Yan Shaozhe felt a blockage in his chest; he opened his mouth, about to say something more.
"Dean!"
An urgent voice came from outside the cultivation room, cutting off his words.
Yan Shaozhe frowned, turned, and pushed open the stone door.
Director Du Weilin stood outside, his forehead slightly beaded with sweat.
Without waiting for Yan Shaozhe to ask, he almost blurted out: "Dean, Huo Yuhao and Zhou Yi have started fighting in the Soul Fighting Arena!"
Yan Shaozhe's voice carried a hint of surprise: "So soon?!"
Director Du Weilin nodded, his usually calm face now filled with an "I didn't expect it either" expression.
"Yes, they clashed right during the first class."
Yan Shaozhe thought for a moment, then suddenly turned back into the stone room that still held some residual heat.
"Xiaotao, come with me."
"Whether you're willing or not, at least... go and take a look.".
..
Inside the Soul Fighting Arena, two figures stood thirty meters apart.
Zhou Yi stood with her hands behind her back, the Red Dragon scales all over her body reflecting a dull metallic luster in the sunlight.
Although Zhou Yi's goal was to win, as a teacher and a Spirit Emperor facing a Spirit Ancestor, she naturally maintained her dignity and would not strike first.
"You make the first move, lest people say I'm bullying you."
Hearing Zhou Yi say this, Huo Yuhao didn't say anything like "don't regret it," but simply muttered in his heart: "Then you're finished!"
Huo Yuhao's first and second spirit rings flashed one after another. To outsiders, it looked like he was using thousand-year Spirit Abilities, but in reality, under the cover of Simulation, both were Ten Thousand Years Spirit Abilities!
Invisible mental tentacles extended silently, passing through the scorching air and reaching toward Zhou Yi.
Before she could react at all, one of her Spirit Abilities was randomly sealed—specifically, her fifth Spirit Ability.
Following that, three "Soul Lashes" like invisible whips struck into Zhou Yi's Spiritual Sea without warning!
Huo Yuhao's mental force had already reached the spirit abyss realm, while Zhou Yi's mental force, in terms of the standards Ten Thousand Years later, was only at the high-level Spirit Sea Realm.
"Ah!"
An irrepressible cry of pain escaped from between Zhou Yi's tightly pursed lips.
Her body swayed violently, and her Red Dragon eyes, which had just been burning with intense Battle Intent, now showed a moment of vacancy and confusion.
Her scale-covered hands suddenly clutched her head, her fingers digging deep into her hair, her spine arching in a painful curve.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao moved.
No spirit rings lit up, no Spirit Power erupted, and there wasn't even a single unnecessary movement.
He simply... took a step.
The moment his foot lightly tapped the ground, his entire being turned into a streak of pure white.
His speed was faster than the limit of most spectators' eyesight; when everyone finally regained their senses from that white light, Huo Yuhao was already standing in front of Zhou Yi.
In his hand, a soul tool longsword had appeared at some unknown point.
The sword was slender and entirely black, with no fancy decorations, only a faint and sharp cold light flowing along the edge.
The tip of the sword, without leaning to either side, was pressed right against Zhou Yi's throat.
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.